Fiction

I'm not much of a fiction reader. My temperament is so analytical and philosophical that I'm attracted to books that deal in big concepts or rational arguments. But I've come a long way over the years in trying to broaden my receptivity to non-linear ways of thinking and receiving knowledge. The easiest avenue for me is poetry. Poetic images and metaphors excite my brain. 


Lately I've begun to read more novels. Perhaps I've gotten to the point where I am weary of 'thinking' in the tiresome rationalistic mode. The siren of the more pleasant narrative form has called out to me, and I have answered. This may be only a temporary vacation from excessive nonfiction reading. But maybe not.


No one has to convince me that story-telling is an extremely important form of discovering truth. One of the turning points in my human journey was back in the 80s when I took a course on the parables of Jesus. I began to realize how potent inventive stories and figurative language is when it comes to conveying The Truth about life. And that The Truth is found in small truths hidden in ordinary things. 


Humans could not be human without stories. We love stories because we are all living out stories. If I am to understand you and get to know you, I have to know your story. Not just what you think or believe, but what has happened to you. The events of your life--what you have experienced--seen, touched, smelled, etc. We read stories or watch them on stage in order to understand ourselves. Personal stories are revelations.


So, I'm reading more fiction these days. I don't intend to do actual reviews of these books; but I do want to reflect on them. Read my next blog.